•as the world caves in•

•oh•

We were doing okay, until we hit tree roots and Grover stopped. "This is the way."

I whipped my head to him. "What?"

"Pan."

"I... we'll come back."

"This tunnel will be gone by then, I have to follow! A door won't stay open, not like this!"

Annabeth was ahead of us. "But we can't, the forges!"

Grover looked sad. "I have to."

The scorpion was almost out of sight. Annabeth looked desperate, not understanding.

Tyson held onto Grover. "We split up. I will go with him. Goat boy needs help, we will find the god person. I am not like Hephaestus, I trust friends."

Grover took a deep breath. "We'll find each other again, but I've got to go."

As we finally split, Annabeth was panicking. "This is bad, really bad."

"Annabeth, they'll be fine!" I tried. "We'll see then again."

It wasn't long until the tunnel started to get hot, but Percy paused. "Wait, question about Athena. She's sworn to never marry, be a virgin?"

"Yeah, like Artemis and Hestia. She's a maiden."

"How come she has demigod children?"

I almost laughed. "Percy, how was Athena born?"

"Spring from Zeus's head in armor."

Annabeth smiled. "Exactly. She wasn't born the normal way, she was literally born from thought. Her children are born the same way. When she falls in love, it's purely intellectual, the way she loved Odysseus in the old stories. It's a meeting of minds. My mom would says it's the purest kind of love. Children of Athena are sprung from the divine thoughts of our mother and mortal ingenuity of our fathers. We're a gift, a blessing from Athena in the men she favors."

We resumed changing the spider, and Percy turned to me. "What do you think, Cor? About the purest form of love?"

I smiled. "I think connecting on the meeting of mines is important, you have to be similar enough. But I want something more. I want physical love and affection, I don't want to just think somebody is smart like me and call it good."

"I... okay. Makes sense. So it's not just about looks?"

I snorted. "How shallow do you think I am? Obviously I want my boyfriend to be sorta cute, but I don't need like, Chris Hemsworth, or something."

Finally, we reached the forge, the scorpion curled into a ball. Creatures moved everywhere, but I couldn't tell what they were.

"I'll sneak by." Annabeth said, but before we could protest, she was invisible.

In no time, I was panting, drenched in sweat, and moving behind Percy as we tried to sneak our own way by. Eventually our path was blocked by a cart and we had no choice but to scramble in. I held my ring, ready to fight and Percy held Riptide in its pen form.

The cart was pushed, and we heard a small conversation as we were wheeled away. The cart was cramped, our legs entangled and our cheeks pressed together. The cart stopped and we listened to what sounded like a classroom.

"Zeus is evil!" A monster shouted. "He cast us into Tartarus just because we used magic!"

Telekhines.

"Yes!" The teacher shouted. "That is why we are taking over the forges and soon, we will control the undersea furnaces, our ancestral home!"

A rush of movement came to the cart and I gripped my ring tighter, ready to twist the gem and turn it to a sword. The tarp peeled back and I faced what looked like dogs.

I turned my ring to a sword, and held it out, Percy doing a similar motion as we jumped up. "Back off!"

It worked, but then I realized it wouldn't work for too long, so I grabbed Percy's arm and started running.

"Annabeth!" I called.

She grabbed me. "Shh!"

"We have company!" Percy said, quieter. He stared at us. "You two, go, I'll fend them off. Even if you're not invisible, they'll be searching for someone."

"Percy, I'm not leaving you!" I pleaded, but Annabeth was grabbing me. "Wait!"

My heart and my mind always screamed at me two conflicting things, but for once, they agreed. It was like the Greco-Persian Wars when Sparta and Athens finally agreed to team up. I broke from Annabeth's grip, pleading that she understood what I needed to do, that she couldn't fight me on it or I'd never forgive her.

I whipped back to face Percy, time slowing, just for us. I didn't have the time to say what I wanted to say, what I needed to say, so I had to think of anything. A lifetime would not be enough to tell Percy everything I wanted to say to him, I would finish a thought and he would respond, which would spark something else in me, making us stuck in a loop.

But that was okay with me if it was us.

I launched myself at him, cringing that I was doing this with Annabeth and probably all the gods watching.

I grabbed his face as I pressed my lips to his, fingers curling against him to keep me grounded in this moment. It wasn't the first kiss I had dreamed of, but it was my first anything with a boy, and it was with the boy who I wanted most, so who was I to complain?

Percy dropped Riptide and held to my waist, pulling us closer as I gasped for air before giving him another kiss as I took in ever detail of his hands on my body, his lips on mine, his face and hair in my hands.

Our kiss said the words I never thought I would have to say until we were in high school searching for prom dates, but none of the guys were Percy, so I would spill it to him. But now, I had to wrap all of my feelings into a few kisses as I realized I would never see him again.

I pulled myself away as I felt the tears pricking my eyes. "Percy, I'm in love with you."

He groaned, pulling me closer, a smile on his lips. "Gods, Coriane, you could've told me sooner. I've been in love with you."

I laughed through a sob, holding his face. "Come back to me. Promise me you'll come back, we'll pretend this didn't happen and make a different first kiss with a better love confession. Just come back."

"I don't think this could be done any differently," he muttered, kissing my forehead. "I'll come back, Coriane. I will always come back, for you."

Percy finally let go of me and Annabeth grabbed me again, putting her hat on me as we came back the way we entered. I couldn't really see through my tears, and I think I started hyperventilating and my chest hurt so much I think my heart actually broke.